


Monsters in the Night

by FactorialRabbits



Series: Tales Beneath The Trees [2]
Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Gen, Swearing, Tyelkormo is so done with all this, brief extra scene at the end where celegorm gets woken up early /again/, monsters under the bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-25
Updated: 2018-07-25
Packaged: 2019-06-16 03:27:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15428010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FactorialRabbits/pseuds/FactorialRabbits
Summary: When Curufinwë has a nightmare, he counts on Tyelkormo to fix the problem. Alternatively: Tyelkormo just wants to sleep, but won't let the chance to one-up his brothers pass.A oneshot for Fëanorian Fun Bingo, for the prompt 'Celegorm wakes up early'





	Monsters in the Night

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally for 'Brotherly Cuddles', but then I decided it better fit 'celegorm wakes up early', then needed hitting into shape with an editting stick I've been too ill for for a while. The first scene is set a bit before Lazy Valinorian Days, the second one could be set any time and place it pleases you to have a tiny Celebrimbor.

Tyelkormo awoke to a shrill shriek. He jumped to his feet, and fumbled with the light; what on earth was going on?!

A few moments later there was the sound of small feet running down the hall, and muffled sobbing. Squinting, not quite awake enough to process yet, he stumbled over to the door and threw it open. He was greeted by the sight of a tiny, dark haired form running down the hallway in some sort of panic.

"Curvo? What the fuck is going on?" Tyelkormo slurred. Someone could scold him for the language in the morning; it couldn't be anywhere close to morning.

He didn't get an answer to his question; instead, Curufinwë latched onto him. Tyelkormo groaned, but rested one hand on his brother's head as he searched the hallway for trouble.

No threats, so far as he could tell.

He considered the situation, as his mind struggled awake and hand softly patted his brother's hair; there'd been a shriek, a single one, then Curufinwë had been the only apparent person about. Running down the hallway like he was being chased by a monster. Oh. Monsters. Small children. Great. Just what he needed at... Sometime significantly before dawn.

"Did you have a nightmare?" Tyelkormo tried to keep the irritation out of his voice. The last thing he needed was Curufinwë thinking he was a burden.

Maybe he even succeeded; Curufinwë clung tighter to his chest and nodded rapidly. Tyelkormo was distinctly aware of his night robe starting to get damp from his brother's sniffling.

"Oh."

He couldn't think of anything more to say. So instead he lead his little brother into his room, and sat him on the bed. Curufinwë hugged him close, so Tyelkormo carefully returned it. He tried to remember what you did when someone was upset. Failing, he kept one arm around Curufinwë whilst he flicked through his class noted with the other. They sat like that for a while, with the occasional yawn from Tyelkormo and the constant sobs of his little brother.

Eventually Curufinwë stopped crying. Somewhere around the notes on water transport in flowers, though the information was not really registering properly. Tyelkormo abandoned the notes and patted Curufinwë's head, trying to think of a better plan; mother was away, so father was probably in his lab. And interrupting father in his lab was strictly forbidden - it was a safety hazard. Whatever one of those was. He was tempted to ignore it and pass Curufinwë off onto father, but then he didn't want to be lectured about why not to go into the lab without permission this early in the morning.

"Alright. Why don't we go back to bed?"

"The monster will eat me!"

Tyelkormo was about ready to just kick Curufinwë out, an order to bother Maitimo if he was lucky, and be done with it. But then, a quick look showed the little one tearing up again. He deflated as he stood, making his way to a chest. Curufinwë stared quietly, almost paused mid-sob, as he watched his brother ferret around for the key. Once he had found it, it was only a few motions to get inside and reveal his practice bow. He took it out, strapped a quiver of blunt arrows over his nightshirt and turned back to Curufinwë.

"If there's nasty monsters, I guess I'll just have to kill them."

Curufinwë stared at him with pure, undiluted amazement, "You're going to kill the monsters?"

"Of course. I'd be a bad big brother if I let monsters eat you."

"If you kill them, you can be my new favourite."

Tyelkormo mocked a shocked expression, "I'm not already your favourite?" Of course he wasn't the favourite. Maitimo was everyone's favourite brother, except for Maitimo himself. And even then Tyelkormo wasn't convinced.

"Kano gives me sweets. But he wouldn't kill a scary monster for me!"

If this was Tyelkormo's chance to get one up on Makalaurë without having to give Curufinwë more sugar than was good for him, he would damn well take it.

"I need both hands to use the bow, so you'll need to open the door then run behind me, okay? I'll shoot the monster in the room, and check for any more. Then, back to sleep."

With a hurried nod Curufinwë agreed to the plan. He kept close to Tyelkormo's leg as they 'snuck' their way to Curufinwë's room. Reaching the door, Tyelkormo drew his bow, and nodded to his counterpart. Curufinwë pushed the door open, squealed, and ran to hide behind Curufinwë.

"Fell beast of the night!" Tyelkormo called as he glanced around the room. "Show yourself; I shall not let you eat my brother!"

When nothing stirred, as he's rather expected, he peered closer into the room; he knew he had to kill the monster properly, else nobody would be getting any sleep. Glancing around, he found a fluttering curtain over an open window.

"Aha!" he called, and shot the blunted arrow into the curtain. For good measure, he sent a couple more as well.

With only two left in the quiver, Tyelkormo lowered the bow and made a show of peering around. Curufinwë clutched at his waist, but stared up with true adoration.

"You wait here. I'll just check it's safe," Tyelkormo peeled his brother off him, before pressing into the room.

He collected back up his arrows, which had hit the curtain and fallen, and stealthily closed the window; no more curtains pretending to be monsters tonight. Then, a show was made of checking cupboards and hidey holes.

Once he'd made a good effort of it, he turned back to Curufinwë. The little one was clutching the door frame, watching Tyelkormo's every move.

"I've checked. All the monsters are gone. You can go back to bed now."

"What if there are more? Will you stay and protect me?"

Tyelkormo suppressed the groan as best he was able; he wanted to sleep, dammit! But, as Curufinwë began to tear up again, he relented. He couldn't exactly say no to his baby brother.

"Where should I put my bow?"

Curufinwë frowned for a moment before pointing next to the bedside table. Carefully, Tyelkormo leant his weapon against it, and pulled himself up on his brother's bed. A wide-eyed Curufinwë soon joined him, snuggling up beside him and hugging him tight.

"You're the best, Tyelko," a sleepy voice muttered, moments before its owner succumbed to slumber.

Tyelkormo petted his head softly, preparing himself for not much more sleep and an awful lot of watching out for monsters. Which definitely did not exist. The thought of how exhausted he would be in the morning almost made him get up and go back to his room - he hated sharing a bed with anything, let alone an even smaller child - but tiny hands on his nightshirt stopped him. Tiny hands which completely trusted him to keep him safe.

And maybe, just maybe, that was worth missing half a night of sleep.

* * *

Years later, Curufinwë was awoken by tiny feet. Telperinquar stood in the doorway, hesitating.

"Yes, Telpe?"

"There's a monster in my room," the child whispered, face growing slowly more embarrassed.

"Ah, I see," Curufinwë eased himself out of bed and pulled on a dressing gown. Usually his wife dealt with such matters, but she was away visiting family. "I happen to know an expert on such matters."

Telperinquar blinked at him, tears halted by confusion.

"We're going to get Uncle Tyelko, and he shall slay the monster for you."

"... Will he?" Telperinquar's voice was quiet and hesitant.

"Of course. He slew all the monsters that troubled me when I was small. They soon learnt that bothering me made him angry, and stopped."

Curufinwë picked up his son in his arms, crossing the house to his brother's room. He was anything but gentle as he slammed his hand on the door, "Tyelko, we need your expertise."

There was a groaning and grumbling, which could construed into the words 'the fuck, Curvo' if one were to be generous.

"Telpe has a monster problem."

Less than a minute later Tyelkormo wrenched open his door, a padded jacket thrown over his nightshirt, quiver on his hip and bow slung over a shoulder. His beautiful hair was tangled, more like a nest of one of his beloved birds than the beautiful silver locks they were used to. Telperinquar started at him, in nervous awe. Tyelkormo grunted, before finding his words, "show me to the foul beast, and I shall defend you beloved nephew."

Then in Curufinwë's mind echoed the words, _"Fuck you, Curvo."_

_"You love it really,"_ Curufinwë sent back.

To that, Tyelkormo made no reply.

**Author's Note:**

> Why does a not that old Tyelkormo already have a practice bow? Because Mahtan is a supportive grandpa and wants to encourage Tyelkormo's budding fascination with Oromë and hunting, so bought him a practice bow. Because having a Valar friend is great - Mahtan would know.


End file.
